12-YO Trophy Hunter Confronted On National Television

Newsroom

Posted on September 06, 2016
by Olivia Mackinnon

Warning: graphic images

In the US, there’s a little girl who spends a lot of her time killing wild animals for sport. As if it isn’t confronting enough seeing a grown adult killing innocent animals, seeing a young girl standing proudly next to the dead carcass of a wild animal is jarring for most.

Appearing on Good Morning Britain, Piers Morgan posed a question to the teenager, which didn’t go down well; ’How would you feel if I came to your house one day and I hunted down your pet cat and I killed it and I then posted pictures of me celebrating the slaughter of your pet cat?'

The girl - who was wearing a 'Stand Up to Anti-Hunting bullying' t-shirt - was visibly thrown off guard and stammered as her father answered in her place. Her parents have brought her up with the view that because the animals she hunts and kills aren’t anyone’s pets, she’s not doing anything wrong. She has been hunting with her father since she was just seven.

'What... I'm not allowed a pet because I hunt?' she said. After asking the same question again, Mr Morgan told Aryanna there was a conflict between photographs that she posts of slain animals and those of her pet cat.

Her father then jumped in on behalf of his daughter again: 'I think that's a trick question. That would be your choice because I've never killed a pet and most hunters don't kill pets.'

'A giraffe's not a pet. We would never think to go out and kill somebody's pet.'

During her appearance, the hunter also insisted she felt remorseful for killing the animal - but that she enjoyed it too much to stop. 'I like hunting because it's something that's been in my family a long time,' she explained. 'And I really enjoy the taste of the meat we kill.'

She also spoke about the series of death threats she's received, saying it was 'upsetting' that some people valued an animal's life over another person's.

She described her latest hunting trip to South Africa as a “dream hunt”, and after some backlash, her father later defended the hobby, saying the giraffe his daughter killed was actually a 'problem' animal area, 'eating up valuable resources other giraffes need to survive'.

He also said the meat killed during their hunt will go to feet 800 orphans in the local area. Despite the negative comments and publicity, Aryanna has admitted she will never stop hunting. 'It's something I cherish and enjoy and I want other people to see what I experienced,' she said.

'I would never back down from hunting. I am a hunter and no matter what people say to me, I'm never going to stop.'